Affiliation:
1. School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai,China
2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai,China
3. Putuo Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai,China
Abstract
Background:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that has
been characterized by progressive development of long onset early disease with complicated etiology
and may cause memory loss, cognitive impairment, and behavioral changes. Physical exercise
may play a preventive role in AD. In the present study, we investigated the impact of longer-term
physical exercise on the finger tapping of AD patients by comparing the finger tapping of AD patients
and healthy controls.
Methods:
In this study, 140 subjects aged ≥ 60 years were enrolled. Group A consisted of 70 subjects
(27 males and 43 females) without exercise habits who were selected from Yangpu District
(Shanghai, China). Group B consisted of 70 subjects (27 males and 43 females) who were selected
from Minxing District (Shanghai, China). All the subjects were right-handed as well. The subjects’
data, including subjects’ age, weight, height, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental
State Examination (MMSE), and finger tapping frequency, were measured.
Results:
The subjects were matched in age, weight, and height. The AD subjects’ MoCA and
MMSE scores were noticeably lower than healthy subjects’ scores (P<0.001); besides, AD patients
with exercise had significantly lower MoCA and MMSE scores than healthy controls with exercise
(P<0.001). The finger tapping of AD subjects’ left hands was significantly lower than that of
healthy subjects without AD (P<0.01), and AD subjects with exercise tapped significantly slower
with their left hand than healthy subjects with exercise (P<0.01). Meanwhile, AD subjects with exercise
tapped significantly faster with the left hand than AD subjects (P<0.05). The right hands of
AD subjects tapped remarkably less than healthy subjects (P<0.01) with or without exercise. Meanwhile,
subjects with exercise tapped significantly faster with their right hand than healthy subjects
(P<0.05), and AD subjects with exercise tapped significantly faster with their right hand than AD
subjects (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
Long-term physical exercises can improve finger tapping frequency, especially in patients
with AD. Finger tapping frequency may be used as an index to monitor the cognitive decline
in ageing AD patients.
Funder
Shanghai Municipal Health and Health Commission Special Program for Clinical Research in the Health Industry
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Neurology (clinical),Neurology
Cited by
3 articles.
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